Interlocking stovepipe blank



Oct. 16, 1928. l 1,687,738

` E. o. slMPsoN INTERLOCKING STOVB PIPE BLANK' maa m. 28. 1v

@menton E. 0. Smpson uPatented Oct. 16, 1928.`

Ennis o. ysi-Mison,

or Tanneur, ALABAMA, Assreivon orbita-HALF To FELIX` I. TARRANn or BIRMINGHAM, ALMA-Mn INTER-LOCKING sTovErIPEBLANK.

rLhis .invention has general kreference to sheet-metal pipingsuch as iscommonlyused for stove pipe, and relatesmore partieularly4 to improved means for securingV together the` lateral edges of an initially flatV blank of` sheet metal when it is .subsequently bentto the forminwhich it is intended to be used; as a section orlength oli such piping..

In a co-pending application, liled of even date herewith, I have showmdescrihed and claimed improved means for joining together the ends of a plurality of sections of sheetmetaljpipe, andwhile said meansare especially well adaptedfor the assembling of pipel sections that are 4 formed., in, the 1n anner. and by the means Setr forth hereinthe-employment of suchjmanner andlineans` isI not, limited to any specilic meansfor endjoining,` ,i

I- am aware that,2due to the manifest desirability of storing and shipping sheet-l, metal pipe sections in the `torni. ofA substantially flat, blanks,Lv and providing means whereby. the side edgeslof each such' blank may subsequently. beinterlocled when the blank isbent.V to formA for usenu1nerousy efforts have been, madetoprovide such interlocking means whichfwould becoinmercially satisjlactory, but, so iarj `asd know, noneyof such efforts has beeinentirely successful, and

it isprimarilyto the overcoming of some of the objections to the side-seaming means heretofore produced, that my present invention is addressed. l

The principal object of this invention is to produce a substantially flat lsheet-metal blank, having its two side edges provided with means for securing them together so as to form a substantially gas-tight joint, while at the same timereinforcing the pipe section as regards its tendency. to unitary lateral distortion, and interlocking the side edges in such a way that any appreciable slippage of said edges relative to each other is strongly opposed, if not entirely prevented under normal use of the piping. n

The means by which the foregoing and other objects are accomplished by my invention, and the manner of their accomplishment, readily will be understood from the following description on reference to the accompanying drawings, which depict pre-` ferred embodiments of the invention, and in which Fig. 1 is a broken plan view of the form of sheet-metal pipe blank whichl prefer toernforbending.f alongone,.ofV its-side edges.,

Fig. 2 is a plan view-of the blank shown in ploy, as initially shaped, slotted, andl scored Fig. 11afterthe scoredz side edge. has been bent i Y llmgfthe .linesof scoring,

` and the two edges of the.. blank` have been blugllti together.,

'ready to be interlocked. l

Ifig. 3 is aplan view-ofthe completedpipe .sectioniafter the operationiofwjoiningthe-side edges has been completed.7

Y Fig. 4 is asectionalview, taken, substan-,

tially on line IV-IV of 'Figg As shownin the drawings, in whichsimilarparts` are identified: by :corresponding Arefrnjence characters throughoutthe; severahviews,

the blanke, `formed` from an initiallyirectangular` strip of sheet-metal,` by any suitable punching, cutting orA other operationhas at oneoi, its side.edgeslaV series of tongues?,

which preferably anelspaced uniformlyyand each of which comprises alongside 8, which .is sharply inclined.relativebto the, side edge of theblank, a rounded -endportion 9and,a short side 10, which tapers slightly laway from the long side ftowardthe sideed'geb, andfintersects saidgside edge, atfa sharply acute angle.k At theloppositeside 11 ofthe blank, itis scored 'along twolnes. 12'; andy 13,

which areparallel with, the side edge 1,1,.of

the blank, and hence with eachother, and along the scored line 12 a series of slots 14 Vare formed, one end of each of said slots lying in a line at right angles to the center line of the blank 5 and passingthrough the point of intersection of the long side 8 of one of the tongues 7 with the side `edge 6 of the blank, and the other end of the slot bearing a similar relation to the point of intersection of the short side 10 of the tongue with said side edge 6. l l

It is intended that theblanks 5 shall be stored, shipped, and if desired delivered to users, in the Hat condition indicated in Fig.

y1, since, due to the provision of the lines of scoring 12 and 13, the blank readily may be bent manually along clearly defined, straight and parallel lines, when it is about to be formed into a pipe section. After the side edge Gis thus bent along lines 12 and 13, Y

into substantially the shape indicated in Fig. 1, the side edges 6 and 11 are brought together to'forinV the blank into substantially cylindrical-shape; the tongues 7 are inserted into their respective ones'oil the slots 14; and l theside edges of the blank are moved manually parallell with each other, in'adirection such' as to'jam an end oi' each of the slots l1 tightly into the sharp corner formed bythe intersection of the short side lO of the tongue {vith theV side edge 6 of the blank. Y

An important eature of the present invention is the provision of the lines l2 and 130i scoring, so that the blanks may be delivered to the user in their initial fiatconditiomand formed into pipe sections by him Without the use of any special tools or equipment. whichivoul'd be impossiblein the absence Aof said scored' lines. find another important feat-ure vis the sharply acute angle at which the short side 10 of each tongue intersects the side edge (3 of the blank,`aiidl the absence ot any rounded suilace at the point of such iiitersection,vso that one' end of each slot may be wedged tightly into'lthe corner between' the side lO of the tongue and the side edge oi' the blank, thereby `forcing the opposite end of the slot against the long side 8 of the tongue at the point of intersection of said-side L With the side edge ofthe blank,y and bringing the side edge 6 ot theblank tightly into engagement With the base of the U-shaped groove formed by the bending' oithe blank along the scored line 12.7 This 'results in the formation of a substantially gas-tight-joint which does not open 'up when the pipe eX'- pands and contracts' under ten'iperatuie variations, and renders it unnecessaryto bendthe tongues? after they have been insertedinto the grooves let. In tlieuse of any of the here toforedevised forms of tongue-andslot con nec'tions i'or joining together the side edges of slieetinetal pipeblanks, it, so fai asl ani aware, has been the'practice, and has 'been necessary, to bend the tongues after theyweie i inserted into the slots, by turning each tongue outwardly against an 'edge of its slot. This not onlyidoes not insure a rsubstantially gas-` the improvements disclosed herein doubtless readily Will suggest themselves to those skilled iny this art, but'such modifications fall Within the scope or my inventive rights, and my 'iny vention is not to be construed as being limited tor any details not claim. x

K Having noivfully disclosed the invention, what I clainias new, randseek'to secure by Letters Patent', is t-f l n A sheet-metal pipe blank having 4projectspecilicallyset out in the .ing roinone of its side edges a series of spaced tongues, and beingy scored near itsk other side edge along a line lparallel With said edge, and a series of slots in the line of said score, adaptedV to receive 'said tongues, and spaced in conformity ivith the spacing there# of, the said tongues being sharply inclined `rtracts,butiaddsnto the labor required in form-A ving the pipe, and hence to its cost, and necessitates theuse ot a special tool or .tools for 7 "Various modifications of minor details of relative to .the side'edge from which they pro- 1 ject, the space atthe intersectionof the shorterside of each tongue With the side edge being sharply angular, andlor a substantial length "thereof or' less- Width thantlie thickness of `the'blanklvvhereby to provide a gripping action on the blankl edge engagedthereby, the sideof leach tongue'y opposite to saidshorter side' closely engaging-the adjacent slot edge when in operative position. p In testimony whereof I ai'IiX my signature ,EDDIE O. SIMPSON'. 

